Category: S

4.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

The Inferno Collection by Jacqueline Seewald

Tara
The Inferno Collection
by Jacqueline Seewald
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 255
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: May 10, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: “May I help you?” Kim Reynolds said the words automatically to the next person who approached the information services desk as she replaced the World Almanac under the ready reference counter.

University reference librarian Kim Reynolds is intrigued when her good friend Lorette Campbell approaches her asking if she’s ever heard of the university having an “Inferno Collection.” But before Kim can figure out the answer to her question, Lorette turns up dead. With the police assuming suicide, Kim sets out to prove them wrong by retracing Lorette’s steps before her death, only to find herself in harm’s way.
Oh my goodness! This book was amazing. I picked it up on a whim at the library today and started it at 2 and didn’t put it down until 6 when I finished it! It was wonderful!! I was practically hooked from the first page. It’s a really great book that I highly recommend. Loved it!!
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve

Tara
The Pilot’s Wife
by Anita Shreve
Copyright: 1998
Pages: 293
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 16-17, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: She heard a knocking, and then a dog barking.

For a pilot’s wife, that middle of the night knock at the door is part of life. But when that knock comes on Kathryn Lyon’s door, she is not only unprepared to hear of her husband’s death, but also of the damning circumstances surrounding the explosion that took out his plane and 103 other people on board. But she can’t really give up – she realizes that she must find out who her husband really was, regardless of what the results will do to her heart.
This was a really good book. It read extremely quickly for me. I had trouble putting it down. I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t believe the twists and turns that occurred throughout the book. The ending is not at all what I expected, and I really enjoyed this book!
5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

See Jane Die by Erica Spindler

Tara
See Jane Die
by Erica Spindler

Copyright: 2005
Pages: 474
Rating: 5/5
Read: Feb. 14-15, 2008
Challenge: Celebrate the Author; Triple Eight Challenge – From my TBR Shelf Category; What’s in a Name (First Name category)

First Line: Heart thundering with exertion, fifteen-year-old Jane Killian treaded water.

Jane Killian was nearly killed as a teenager. After years of numerous reconstructive surgeries, she is finally at a place in her life where she has everything to live for. She has a great husband, a budding career as an artist, and is in the early weeks of pregnancy. All of that is shattered, though, when her husband Ian is arrested for murder. Shortly thereafter, she begins to receive threatening notes that indicates that the man that tried to kill her as a teenager has found her to finish the job. She sets out to find out the truth, with the help of her sister, Dallas Police Detective Stacy Killian. However, when they learn the truth, it will rock both of their lives.

This book was amazing! I am never disappointed by Erica Spindler. It never fails, you think you’ve got it figured out and, BAM! she hits you with a curveball out of left field! I absolutely love it! I definitely recommend this book to anyone!

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

Accident by Danielle Steel

Tara
Accident
by Danielle Steel
Copyright: 1994
Pages: 439
Rating: 5/5
Read: Feb. 8-11, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read
First Line: It was one of those perfect, deliciously warm Saturday afternoons in April, when the air on your cheek feels like silk, and you want to stay outdoors forever.

Page Clarke’s life is seemingly perfect. She has a loving husband, a beautiful 15-year-old daughter, and a great seven-year-old son. However, one little white lie from their daughter Allyson will cause their lives to come crashing down around them. She tells her mother she’s going out with her best friend Chloe and her father. Instead, they both lie to their parents and meet up to go on a secret date with some older boys from school. Their date seems to go perfectly, with everybody getting along great. However, halfway home, their young lives are shattered by a head-on collision. What Page faces at the hospital is frightening, Allyson may never recover. And to make matters worse, her marriage begins to fall apart at the same time. It’s all Page can do to keep her sanity when her family needs her the most.
I loved this book! It was such a great read! It really surprised me that I enjoyed this book. I have always been so adament about hating romance books and yet I thoroughly enjoyed this one a lot! I’m glad I picked this one up, it’s definitely a good read!
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, Read in 2008, S

The Marilyn Conspiracy by Milo Speriglio

Tara
The Marilyn Conspiracy
by Milo Speriglio
Copyright: 1986
Pages: 216
Rating: 3/5
Read: Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – Biography/Autobiography category
First Line: In the beginning of the Marilyn Conspiracy there was a lifeless hand holding the telephone, the nude body sprawled across the bed, and the house on 12305 Helena Drive.
This book is Milo Speriglio’s attempt to prove that Marilyn Monroe did not commit suicide, but rather, she was a victim of a homicide. Overall, I enjoyed this book. However, I had quite a few problems with it. First of all, I did not like at all how the author organized this work. He broke everything up into sections, for example some chapters were called “The DA,” “The Coroner,” “The Police,” etc. I felt that if he had just laid it all out it in a format where it would read easily, much like a novel, it would have been a much better read. I also had a lot of problems with the way that he concluded the book. Being a history major, I learned that when writing your conclusion, you must be very frank and firm. Instead, what I read seemed more like tip-toeing around what he really wanted to say. It became obvious that he acknowledged that Monroe had a relationship with Robert Kennedy, but felt that Kennedy was not the person behind the murder, but rather the Mafia was in order to strike a blow to RFK’s political future. Unfortunately, he didn’t come out and say that, instead he simply said it was possible. If that is his conclusion, he needs to be forceful. I just feel that this book had a lot of promise, but that the execution just wasn’t there.